


Bloodied Snow

by tisLordPendragonPrat



Category: Naruto
Genre: Agape, Alternate Universe, Ambiguous Relationships, Ancient Greek Types of Love, Angst, Best Friends, Confusion, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Homelessness, Lessons in Life, Ludus - Freeform, M/M, Maybe happy ending?, Mental Health Issues, Minor Character Death, Mixed Japan and Canon Setting, Moral Lessons, Murder Mystery, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Philia - Freeform, Relationship Tags to Be Added - Freeform, Sad, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Swearing, Violence, Winter, philautia, storge, tragic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:53:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26717056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tisLordPendragonPrat/pseuds/tisLordPendragonPrat
Summary: One child protégé. One perfectionist. One idiot. And one hell of a bloody murder case. Together Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto entangled themselves in each other’s lives that has them solving a case far beyond their paychecks. Except, having uncertainties buried in their past, present and future, they must work together before one of them drowns in all the blood and the unanswered questions in their hearts. With friends and unlikely allies supporting them, they might just make it through one of the harshest winters of their lives.Currently update once a week.
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter I: The Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi with the exception of my original characters, which are obviously mine. Being an AU story, there will be changes in the plot.
> 
> Note: All the younger characters (e.g., Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, etc.) are about the same age and are aged up to their mid-20s. Other characters' age are set in Shippuden.
> 
> UPDATED 28 November 2020: I'm currently updating each chapter so that they are longer and are better (in my opinion). So far, no grand changes in this chapter. I'll try to update the next one as soon as possible!
> 
> \- Arthur

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose and aggressively ran his hand through his hair, causing his perfectly groomed raven hair to be disheveled. Half expecting for the day to be decent, he had left for work half an hour earlier than normal. Then again, he shouldn’t have expected anything to come out in a delight during a Friday night. He nearly screamed at his client for being stupid. The guy had the audacity to leave out that he was paying people to keep silent about the incident. And for what? For _him_ to do more work to make sure the idiot didn’t go jail. If the witness hadn’t slipped in a comment prior to the start of the case, the whole thing would have been a disaster. And if he were given a choice, he would have taken a different client. But his boss had given him the case since the idiot’s father was a close friend. Now, all Sasuke wanted to do was go home to his apartment and sleep for a full week.

Leaving his office, the lightly scattered snow that morning seemed to fall harder. While his dark, wooled coat covered his pristine and equally dark suit, the wind hardly helped with keeping his face warm. Sasuke lets out a frustrated sigh and lifted the collar of his coat as high as possible. He half ran over to the subway station. On the way there, he was stopped by a bright red pedestrian signal. Gathered around him was a woman holding a pink umbrella that matched her equally vibrant hair. She was laughing and hitting the man directly next to him. By the slight wincing of the boy’s body, Sasuke couldn’t help but feel slightly sorry for him.

A soft sigh to his left brought Sasuke’s attention to his other side. He took notice that the man had a face mask on and had an infamous spiky, silver hair. Hatake Kakashi. The older man did not seem to have noticed his shocked face and proceeded to walk forward. He immediately followed, but both were suddenly pushed back.

There was a loud screeching of tires and a woman screaming before Sasuke passed out. The only image that he remembered was a bright orange tracksuit filling his vision.

***

Kakashi hardly said anything besides letting out a breath a couple of times to signal Gai that he was still there. He let the other continue to ramble on the phone. He really shouldn’t have picked up his phone but having Gai talk about his frustration at work felt like he was also doing the same. Not that Kakashi would say anything to him. It would make his so-called “rival” more talkative than he already was. So, when the pedestrian light turned green, he idly walked forward to only be struck back down within a few seconds. As he fell, he heard a woman screaming.

It was a sound that one would hardly hear in everyday life. It was a blood sucking scream that could pierce through even a thickest of walls. Except, this was not a cry of fear for him. No. Kakashi could tell it was for someone else. He wants it for someone else.

“Arghh,” he grumbled. Kakashi tried to get up but another person’s body was on top of him. He pried open his eyes and saw not one, but two large males on him. The one in between didn’t move, while the one on top immediately jumped up and dusted himself.

A pink haired woman ran towards them and started to speak to the blond kid. He couldn’t focus, but he deduced that the one screaming was the pink hair. She hit the blond’s shoulder with a loud smack that even Kakashi winced.

“Don’t do that again,” she brought him to a tight hug.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, dattebayo!” the boy hugged back. Relief for some reason, Kakashi made a soft grunt to which called the blond to drop towards his side. Even without much of the sun, any person would have noticed the three parallel scars across each of the boy’s cheek. However, the silver-haired lawyer first saw the bright, blue eyes staring back at him. With a combination of the boy’s bright, blond hair and orange tracksuit, he looked like a morning sun in the midst of the grey world.

“My friend already called 110, they should be here any minute,” his smiled, stretching the scarred cheeks on his face. Yet, it made absolutely no difference to Kakashi. “Don’t try to stand up. You’re hurt… and uhh… he seems to be passed out.”

Kakashi barely nodded his head, unable to say anything while the boy jogged towards the smashed car just a few feet away from him. A car accident. He could have died.

As the boy escorted the driver out of the car and placed him on the ground, the driver spoke up. “I’m so sorry. I-I didn’t…”

Kakashi held up a hand. “It’s okay. It was an accident.”

Finally, he could hear the paramedics in the distance all the while feeling man on top of him to regain consciousness.

***

Holy hell did Sasuke’s head hurt. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself on top of _the_ Hatake Kakashi. He unsuccessfully stood up. Thankfully, someone caught up just before he fell.

“Hey, take it easy,” the person eased him back down on the ground. He turned his head and saw it was the same guy that stood next to him. When the world finally stopped spinning, he noticed a car accident appearing only a few feet from him. “Paramedics are here, hold still.”

His mysterious savoir jogged towards the emergency personnel and explained the situation. Thankfully, by the end of their examination, both him and Kakashi were given an all clear. Only the driver was sent to the hospital. Unluckily, the blond insisted on coming along with the driver, which left him with a bitter taste in his mouth.

“Naruto,” the pink haired woman pleaded, but to him it sounded like a warning.

“Don’t worry, Sakura-chan. Tell the guys I’ll over there soon. Make sure Chouji doesn’t eat my half of the food!” he warned. “And you two, watch out where you’re going next time.”

Naruto pointed at the two lawyers staring at him.

“All right, fine,” Sakura rolled her eyes. “Just… be careful, okay?”

“Will do!”

And just like that, he watched his savoir be whisked away back to heaven. Probably.

***

Kakashi woke up the early morning back in his apartment. Two blankets covered him like a rolled sushi. And he stayed that way for a bit until memories of yesterday flooded back. Naruto. A cured fish seen in ramen. He tossed himself to the side. He doesn’t question the name, but he does find out quite odd.

He reached over and grabbed his phone from the nightstand. Opening a web browser, he searched the boy’s name. The habit wasn’t anything new. Lawyers looked up names all the time to get to know their clients and find other information they need for a case. However, this was certainly the first time Kakashi was using it to search for some stranger. Though, he rationalized that the boy did save his life. Except, the only thing that kept popping up was naruto. The ramen seafood product. Great. He checked the time and saw that almost an hour had gone by since he began his search. Flabbergasted, he shook his head and took a shower.

Not even an hour after he finished, he picked up his phone again. It wasn’t to stalk. No. He needed to thank him for saving his life. Looking back at yesterday, he clearly remembered not thanking him. He felt stupid as a lawyer. Even his own clients gave him gifts after he won their case. He declined their gifts, thinking it was too much. Still, the least he could do for Naruto was thank him in person.

***

Naruto finished his bowl of soup and gave it back to one of the volunteers.

“Thanks, Aya-chan!” he grinned.

“You don’t have to thank me, Naruto,” she smiled back. “Do you want another one? It’s cold outside.”

“Nah, you should give it to one of the kids here,” he gestured his head towards a group of children running around. “They need their energy.”

“I think they have enough to last the whole day, sweetie,” an old lady walked up next him with her empty bowl.

“Nakamura-san! How are you today?” he asked and hugged the old woman.

She giggled and returned the hug. “I’m doing just fine, thank you, Naruto-kun.”

The two continued their conversation by sitting down along with the other elderlies. Naruto had always enjoyed talking with them. They hardly had a lot in common, but they gave him lots of warm hugs and some interesting stories. Today was one of those days. Nakamura-san waited until all the children gathered around and told the story on how she met her husband. Naruto knew this was going to be a good story seeing how the two love birds looked each other with much admiration before the story even began.

All too soon, after Nakamura-san shared her story, the number of people in the soup’s kitchen started to dwindle. Before the lasts one left, Naruto walked out of the building and headed back home. Or, at least, any in his position would call it as such, but others? Not so much. Others would have given him and his home many alternative names. But it was definitely better than the emergency shelter he was in just a mere two months ago.

Naruto tightly wrapped thinning scarf around his neck. The snow had briefly stopped, which gave him a short relief from the frigid weather. He made a turn at the corner and reached the convenient store.

“Ey, Naruto!” Kiba waved his open hand while his other was holding a bag of goods. The dog lover still managed to hug him tightly. “Don’t do shit like that again.”

“Yeah, yeah. I already got an earful from everyone yesterday,” he chuckled. “So, what gives? I thought you got out of work yesterday?”

“I did, but Tanaka-san got a fever, and somebody needed to replace him,” he rolled his eyes. “But get this, I saw the little shit walking in a night club with two girls in each arm! Two! I don’t care he ditched work. I do that. I just feel bad for his girlfriend.”

Naruto agreed. He remembered seeing a picture of the said man. He wasn’t going to lie. The man was fit. Still, lying to someone you supposedly love with another person, especially with two other people, was low.

“Did you get a picture?” Naruto asked.

Kiba smirked and raised a snapshot of the snake. The two friends looked at each other and a devilish smile appeared on both of their faces.

“I’ll catch you for lunch today or nah?” Kiba questioned before heading out.

“Can’t. Construction boss said we’re slightly behind schedule and need all abled bodies to go in early or stay late. I’m double booking and do an early and late shift,” he answered.

“Dude, seriously. Just ‘cause you have some sort of super strength doesn’t mean that you can’t eat. You got to feed the beast a keep your strength!” he grabbed an onigiri in his bag and shoved it to Naruto’s chest.

“Kib–”

Before he could say anything, his friend stranded him and was waving goodbye. He looked at the packaging and noticed it was his favorite flavor. Naruto smiled and thanked him in his head.

***

Sasuke had a few more pages he wanted to read, but his stomach was earthshaking-ly loud that even his secretary, Karin, that walked in couldn’t stop herself from a chuckling softly. Slightly embarrassed, he saved his face and decided to head out to eat.

“Lunch break?” Karin asked.

“Hn,” was all that managed to escape.

He walked out of the office and was greeted by fresh, cool air all which helped ease some of the tension from his body. He took a deep breath in and lets everything go. He lets go of his frustration. He lets go of his anger. He lets go of his pent up feelings. While winter wasn’t the favorite of the seasons, he reasoned it was certainly was better than wearing a suit nearly every day during a scorching summer heat. Still, winter will _never_ be his favorite.

Not wanting the memory to fill his thoughts ever again, he reminded himself of yesterday’s incident instead. As he strolled the snow paved ground, his mind wondered to the blond boy. And if he could remember correctly, his name was… Naruto? Yes. He briefly recalled a young woman calling his name out. Besides saving Sasuke and having such an odd name, Naruto also had a striking image. There were three paralleled scars on each of his cheek. It definitely wasn’t scratched at that time. It was old but deep. He certainly wasn’t about to pry into someone’s past. No. He just needed to thank him. But how was he going to find the blond, scarred boy?

“Welcome!” a voice took Sasuke out of his thoughts. He looked over to the caller and almost tripped on his own two feet. Blond, spikey hair, scars on his cheeks, no orange tracksuit, but the caller checked everything on the list. “Ah! It’s you! Glad to see you’re doing okay!”

Sasuke couldn’t say anything. He composed himself and gave a small nod. Another person walked in and took the other’s place behind the counter.

“Heh, always right on time, buddy,” Naruto formed a fist.

“Always dude,” the other fist bumped.

“Catch you later! And, uh,” Naruto faced towards Sasuke. “You should probably get a haircut, so you see the road better.”

Sasuke grunted and rolled his eyes, earning him an annoying but bubbly chuckle from the blond. He stood there while his eyes followed Naruto out of the convenient store. He almost didn’t move until he somehow remembered needing to thank the guy. He ran out and spotted him turning around the corner.

He followed him with a slight jogging pace and was grateful that he managed to catch up.

“Sup, you need anything?” Naruto asked.

Sasuke caught his breath for a moment. Now that they stood in front of each other, he noticed that the other was slightly taller than him. “I… thanks.”

Naruto tilted his head to a side like a confused puppy. Eventually, he understood his intensions and smiled, showing his perfectly straight teeth. “You’re welcome! And here.” He handed him an onigiri. “You need to eat. Don’t want you fainting again.”

Sasuke huffed. The audacity this kid had. “I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t pushed me into oblivion.” 

“And you would have died,” Naruto raised an eyebrow in triumph. “Just take it, idiot.”

He grumbled in annoyance. “No thanks. Adults shouldn’t be taking food from a baby.”

Suddenly, Naruto shoved the onigiri in his hand and dashed across the street. There was a honk from a car. The other bowed in apology and continued to wave back at him.

Sasuke stood in shock. He couldn’t believe the idiot just ran across the street like that after what happened yesterday. Maybe he shouldn’t have said thank you. He looked at the onigiri in his hand. Then again, he did owe him his life. And now, he needed to return the favor for the food. He checked the weather on his phone app for tomorrow and saw only some predicted light snow. Exiting out of the app, he looked at his schedule and decided to leave an hour for lunch open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! Tis I, Arthur. This is my first fanfiction on ao3 and my first Naruto fanfiction. If you see any errors please let me know. Still, I hope you all like it so far. Please leave a comment. 
> 
> I will try to do a weekly update on Fridays! For now, enjoy an early release of chapter one. :D


	2. Chapter II: Thank You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi with the exception of my original characters, which are obviously mine. Being an AU story, there will be changes in the plot.
> 
> UPDATED 28 November 2020: And here's the next chapter! A little more has changed here. I'll try to update again tomorrow.
> 
> \- Arthur

Kakashi exhaled. Tension had wormed its way to his head, not that this was anything new. Except, he had been sitting on his office chair for the past 9 hours looking over paperwork after paperwork without leaving unless he needed to use the lavatory. He even foregone his lunch. It wasn’t much of a meal, but his current case made his sad of a lunch smell like a five-star meal.

A knock came to interrupt his irritation at his missed break. Opening the door was his secretary Ueno Yui who reminded him of the dinner party at Yakiniku Q which the whole company floor was attending to in half an hour. He thanked her, but she didn’t leave the room.

Ueno scratched her head. “Uhh… Kakashi-senpai, I am told to force you to come. Otherwise, Tsunade-sama told me that if you don’t, she will–”

“Mah, I get it. I’ll get ready.”

Ueno beamed him a smile and the two of them left the room.

The car ride there took longer than it would have had they taken the subway instead. However, Kakashi had no energy left to stand with a bunch of other suited men and women all equally drained from exhaustion. The only one who would probably still have any energy left was the woman sitting beside him.

Ueno was on her phone and was texting someone. She giggled to herself and spoke up. “I can’t believe we get to meet the CEO! She’s so amazing and cool a-and just…”

Kakashi let her talk throughout the car ride. Ueno had only been his secretary for two years. Yet her enthusiasm in field never changed despite the amount of work she was doing. On top of it, she has been studying for the bar exam. He wondered where she was getting all her energy from.

“One day, I want to be like Tsunade-sama,” she concluded. Her eyes lingered in admiration on her phone where a picture of the said woman was displayed. Not a second later, she lets out a frustration. “Aw come on! Really? Who’s doing construction this late? We’re going to be late!”

Kakashi looked up and saw traffic. He hardly cared about being late. It was just a party anyhow. Except, Tsunade-sama was going to be there. He wasn’t about to repeat what happened before when he came in late for a meeting. He shivered at the thought.

“Sorry about the traffic,” their driver apologized. “If you want, you can make it to your destination by foot. It’s not far from here. Should be around a 10 minute walk.”

“I’m not–”

“Thanks,” Kakashi interrupted Ueno and handed his card over.

“But senpai,” Ueno whined.

“You can stay here if you want. I’ll let Tsunade-sama know,” he replied. She grumbled, but ultimately hopped out of the cab.

The two started walking. Without the sun, the cool air felt like a sting on the skin. Despite having a mask on, Kakashi raised his scarf to his nose and stuffed his hands in his coat pocket to keep himself warmer. Ueno was smart and had brought a pair of gloves and earmuffs along with her knitted scarf. Silence filled the space between them.

Kakashi looked up at the sky and saw the stars were twinkling. He noticed that during the winter they appeared to be brighter. He added the thought to his list of reasons on why he loved winter. The list was quite small, but it had grown over the years. Just like snow on the ground, he wanted to cover any traces of the bleak memories he had of winter.

***

The noise did increase exponentially rather quickly than Kakashi had hoped for. He wasn’t sure if it was because a group of business workers decided to join in or if it was the booze. Either way, he decided to excuse himself for a bit and headed out the restaurant.

The frigid air hit him like a brick, but it was better than smelling like alcoholic man. He took a breath and continued the motion a few more times before boisterous laughter reached his ears. Great. More people are coming. Kakashi scooted further away from the entrance only to spot a set of whiskered cheeks among the crowd of workers.

“See, I told you he’ll be fine!” one of them wrapped their arm around the boy’s shoulder.

“Just make sure you’re still treating me to the yakiniku!” Naruto glared.

The crow of men laughed and entered the restaurant. Kakashi hardly registered what happened, but he quickly re-entered the building.

“Excuse me,” he mumbled. The whole crowd turned around and eyed him.

“Oh! You’re that other guy! Man, you guys must have placed tracker on me,” Naruto laughed. Kakashi raised a confused eyebrow.

“That’s illegal,” he firmly commented, and they laughed. He cleared his throat. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Sure!” he answered. “Eiji-san, make sure this guy doesn’t hog the food.” Naruto pointed at the guy that had his arm around him earlier.

“Will do!” came a reply.

They headed out of the restaurant, but once they did, Kakashi couldn’t bring up what he wanted to say.

“I bet you wanted to say thanks,” Naruto concluded. He looked at the silver-haired man who nodded his head. “Seriously. It’s not a problem. I just hope someone would the same thing to me, ya’ know? So, don’t think I’m not selfish here.” He chuckled.

Kakashi shook his head. “Still, it was un-selfish and brave of you. So, thanks. Naruto-san?”

“Yes, and just Naruto is fine.”

“Right… Naruto-kun.”

The boy immediately laughed as if he heard the best joke in the world. “Y-you’re welcome! Hahaha! Well, glad I could be of service.” He saluted. “Sorry, but, uh, is that all? I kinda need to eat something.”

“Of course. I can buy you your meal,” he offered. “If you want.”

“Seriously?” his eyes grew wide. “Sweet! Come on!”

Kakashi was practically dragged back inside and was forced to sit next to him. Naruto wanted to introduce him but stumbled when it came to his name.

“Hatake Kakashi.”

“This is Hatake-san! Saved his life yesterday, dattebayo!”

Everyone hollered and cheered him on for his bravery. Kakashi ended up staying longer than he intended, but he didn’t _not_ like the atmosphere of the group. Although it was just as rowdy as the other party, he noticed how Naruto did not drink and just continued to laugh along with everyone. It allowed him to feel more at ease knowing the boy wasn’t going to go home drunk.

He tapped Naruto’s shoulder. “I should get going.”

“Of course!” he replied. “Thanks for treat!”

Kakashi nodded his head and returned to the equally loud party on the opposite side of the restaurant. This time, he took two shots alcohol while discreetly trying to cover much of his face. Tsunade-sama cheered him on for his newfound enthusiasm. Ueno was surprised, but she too cheered her boss. Except, only Kakashi knew why he drank. He wanted to celebrate his new founding reason why he liked winter, even if the other reasoning unconscious.

***

The next few days and after having learnt that Tsunade-sama was staying for two weeks during the dinner party, Kakashi had the trouble of making sure to diligently do work and keep himself from turning into her drinking buddy. Afterall, Shizune could only do so much about her boss’s drinking and gambling problem. He was still baffled that Tsunade-sama was the CEO. Though, he would never even think and dream about opposing her given her skills, especially when meeting with other CEOs. She lives, breathes, and exuded utter confidence like she _is_ one.

Still, it was a shame that he learned that she was stepping down to continue her medical career. He doesn’t blame her. Befriending her during his teenage years, Kakashi knew her passion in the medical field. She only left last the field year to run the firm after the death of the previous CEO, Sarutobi-sama, who had practically begged her at his death bed. Plus, she has a soft spot for the old man. Not only was he sick, but he helped raise her after the death of her grandfather Hashirama Senju.

Kakasi stretched his back from his office chair. There was a slight crack, but it felt good. Tonight, he was asked to come along with her to meet a possible new member in the company. Tsunade-sama was never the one to ask him any favors like that, so he assumed that the new individual was smart and capable enough to catch her eye.

The only problem was what she said after.

_He doesn’t seem to be trusting of others, but I can tell he just needs a bit of guidance._

It indicated to two things. One, whoever this was picked the wrong field. No one chooses to be a lawyer without developing some trust in others. Otherwise, work will just be hell. Two, he was probably – no, we _will_ be, he will be forced to train the other somehow.

Kakashi gathered his laptop, several papers, and shoved everything in his satchel. This was going to be annoying. He never wanted to be someone’s teacher. He wasn’t good at teaching. Well, he guessed he had to start somewhere.

***

Sasuke was already feeling irritated. Curses filled and ran his head.

“–and tomorrow afternoon there’s a meeting with Sayori-san…,” Karin paused. “Sasuke-kun?”

He rolled his wrist in motion for her to continue. Karin hesitated for a moment but proceeded to talk while trying to make herself as small as possible. Sasuke thought of himself as a great multitasker. However, despite this ability, he could not focus on her words. His mind was too preoccupied with irritation towards Naruto. He was finally able to open an hour of his time to treat him for lunch, but the audacity of him to not be at the convenient store just made him mad. Still, he knew he was being irrational. The other kid working with Naruto did say the blond switched to a different shift. Still, it didn’t help his frustration. He didn’t have a lot of free time.

“Just please remember that you have a scheduled meeting with Tsunade-sama from Konohan Law Firm on Saturday at 10 PM,” Karin ended. He immediately tuned in.

“When did that happen?”

“Just this morning. She saw your case with Murata-san and liked how you handled the situation,” she smiled and rolled her back straight. “So, she called the office and wanted to see if you’re available for ‘chatting’. I said yes and booked you a meeting with her at her favorite restaurant.”

Sasuke knew that this wasn’t an ordinary chat. If the conversation goes well, he could land himself working in Konohana Law Firm. The leading firm in the city. This was his moment.

“Good job,” he acknowledged Karin. She beamed at the compliment and giggled as she left.

He immediately refocused himself and called his brother about the great news.

“That’s great, Sasuke,” Itachi congratulated. “I’m sure you needed to hear that after yesterday.”

Sasuke nearly jumped out of his chair. “What do you mean, nii-san?”

There was a slight chuckle in the back. “I’m just glad that you’re safe and _will_ continue to be, correct?”

“Of course,” he promised. “Now, tell me everything you know about Tsunade-sama.”

***

“Oi! Let’s wrap it up for tonight!” Eiji-san yelled. Everyone cheered and gathered outside in front of the building. “Good job everyone! Thanks for keeping up with the schedule. Late shifters, you can take a 10-minute break. Everyone else, before you leave, make sure the tools are back at their _appropriate_ spot. We don’t want anyone else getting hurt, ‘kay?”

“Hai!” everyone agreed in unison.

Eiji-san brought Naruto to the side. “Kid, your side feeling better?”

“Of course! Got a good night sleep yesterday, so it’s pretty much healed,” he gave a thumbs up. His boss patted him on the back and started yelling at one of the guys.

Naruto smiled and shook his head. He soon left the construction site and hopped on a bus. Thankfully, the smell of sweat trapped with wonderous scent of sulfur – courteous of the construction site – was less noticeable during winter where everyone’s nose was clogged. Still, when he arrived at his new job at Yakiniku Q restaurant and was greeted by his manager, he went straight to the lavatory to try and wash as much as he could with only a sink and paper towel to work on. A few rinses later, he checked the bruise on his left ribs area. It was darker, but he needed this job. He was already lucky to get an extra shift at the construction, but his luck continued when he happened to stop chaos from ensuing the day him and his coworkers were dining. The manager saw him and offered him a job as a waiter to prevent others from wreaking havoc at the small restaurant.

He gently patted the bruise with a wet paper towel, only to wince. He shook his head and simply changed into his uniform, a plain white V-neck shirt, black pants, black waisted apron and a comfortable pair of sneakers.

***

The evening went well between Kakashi, Tsunade-sama, and Sasuke. Although there was an awkward pause of realization between him and Sasuke, the evening was all right. If it wasn’t for Tsunade-sama’s slight drunken state, there would have been little to no conversation happening between the two of them.

Tsunade-sama grunted. “Oi! We need more sake here!”

“Mah, Tsunade-sama, you should–”

“Don’t say another word Kakashi,” she ordered with a slight hiccup.

“You know, he’s probably right,” a waiter stepped in and agreed. The three of them looked up and Kakashi was dumbfounded.

“Kid, don’t tell me what to do,” she pointed.

He chuckled. “Oh yeah? Baa-chan, you know, I actually am allowed to not serve you if I think you’re too drunk, right?”

 _Baa-chan?_ Kakashi thought.

“Ha? Who the fuck makes that kind of rule?” she stood up too quick, but Naruto caught her before she fell backwards. He let her back down on the cushioned floor. She mumbled something, but eventually leaned her head on top of arms that laid on the table and fell asleep.

“Hahaha, should I get your check, then?”

Kakashi nodded his head and followed the boy with his eyes until he returned to them.

“Looks like most of the bill went to the alcohol. Should I be worried?” he asked.

“Nope, she’s a tough one,” he answered.

Naruto laughed a contagious glee. “Thought so too, but I didn’t take her as a heavy drinker, but baa-chan sure could drink during dinner time. Does eating past 10 o’clock count a dinner?”

Kakashi shrugged.

“I wouldn’t question when people eat if you only eat an onigiri for lunch,” Sasuke commented.

“I’ll have you know I eat ramen too,” Naruto stuck out his tongue.

“Quality.”

Naruto theatrically gasped. “Well, I was going to give you guys a discount. Too bad.”

“Mah, Sasuke-kun, you should apologize,” Kakashi urged with a humorous undertone.

“Hn.”

The boy raised his hands. “That’s okay. I forgive you. But seriously, I can’t give out discounts yet. Apparently, I’m still a newbie here. After breaking out a fight yesterday, you’d think I would get a promotion!”

“Fight?” Sasuke said Kakashi’s thought out loud.

“Whoops. You didn’t hear that from me,” Naruto motioned an invisible zipper across his mouth. “Anyways, I’ll give your card back in a bit.”

The two lawyers sat there in an awkward silence with only a soft snoring sound from their CEO. When Naruto did return, he gave Kakashi his credit card back and bowed as they left the table while he slightly dragged the older woman. Outside and a taxi call later, he told the driver Tsunade-sama’s address. The two men stood there for a moment until the taxi disappeared.

“Ahh. I forgot my bag. It was nice meeting you, Sasuke-kun. I’m assuming you’ve made your choice?” Kakashi questioned.

Sasuke nodded his head.

The two of them parted ways. Sasuke continuing his steps in the cold winter, while Kakashi stepped forward to a bright sun.


	3. Chapter III: Little Things Keep Us Forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi with the exception of my original characters, which are obviously mine. Being an AU story, there will be changes in the plot. 
> 
> UPDATED 3 December 2020: A few more changes in this chapter. Also, the summary has been updated. The plot has not actually changed. I just found the new summary to be better worded (it's less wordy too). This is also the second to the last chapter of the previous version. So, the next update should come tomorrow with new content. Stay tuned! I hope you are all liking the updated version. 
> 
> P.S. New scene added where Naruto learns Sasuke's name isn't actually "teme". I forgot to add that in.
> 
> \- Arthur

It had certainly been a bizarre week for Sasuke with having a near death experience, then it was landing a job at the most famous law firm in the city – Konohana Law Firm. And throughout it all, he bumped into a certain whiskered boy more far often than he anticipated. What were his odds? Unlikely, given that were millions roaming around the city. Still, it was not an unpleasant surprise each time they happen to meet, which was why he landed back in Yakiniku Q restaurant.

“And you’re back,” Naruto placed his hands on his hips and snickered. “You like the food here that much, huh?”

“Can’t say. This is only my second time.”

“Second! Wow. I bet you have terrible commitment issues.”

“And I suppose you’ve experienced any?” he humored.

Naruto’s face flushed red. “W-why I’ll have you know I have _plenty_ of… experience,” he stuttered. “Just tell me your order, teme.”

“I’ll have the same as last night,” Sasuke pointed at the menu. “Uchiha Sasuke.”

“Huh?” Naruto tilted his head to the side and looked up from his notepad.

The raven rolled his eyes. “I have a name, boke.”

“Oh! Sorry… Uchiha-san,” the blond scratched the back of his head. “I’m Naruto… and I’ll get back to you with you order… teme,” he smirked and dashed to the kitchen. Sasuke couldn’t help but reciprocate a similar facial expression.

The blond eventually returned with fresh meat, a bowl of rice, and various other side dishes. Naruto prepared the grill in the middle of the table and scattered out of Sasuke’s space, earning the boy a soft snicker.

He saw the other stopped halfway through, “Enjoy your meal, Uchiha-san!”

Sasuke rolled his eyes and spent the rest of his dinner cooking the meat to his liking, while subtly keeping his eyes on the waiter. Having been surrounded by the life of a lawyer and practically groomed to be one since he was child, Sasuke noticed the smallest aspects of individuals that others would miss. There was the obvious, of course. Naruto was loud and annoying. More so than his coworkers? Definitely. Surprisingly, he also much easier to tease than he let on.

More importantly, though, Sasuke noticed that the other was happy every time he served another table. When he laughed, they would laugh. There was slim possibility that it was that the boy was saying something humorous – a _slim_ chance was still a chance. But he concluded that it was probably the air that clung surround the blond. Naruto was warm like the sun. Except, no one would burn. Instead, the boy seemed to highlight everything that was… good around him and others that Sasuke himself could not help but play along with the boy’s banter. Even the dingy restaurant appeared to brighter and livelier had he not been in the room. So, when Naruto accidentally bumped into another waiter and winced, he immediately noticed that too.

Naruto raised his head and scanned around the room until his eyes landed towards Sasuke’s direction. He walked over to his table. “Is everything all right?”

Sasuke nodded his head asked for bill, while trying his best to refrain from saying or even looking at where the other had pressed his hand. Naruto had given him his receipt and once more, he parted.

The subway ride back home was silent like any other day. He had only stayed in the restaurant for half an hour to make it to the last train for the day. There were a few others in the cart with him. Thankfully, none of them were plastered drunk. There were a few times he witnessed businessmen slumped down from drinking far beyond what their bodies could handle. In all honesty, he could not fathom how and why they would that. The unruly smell and aftereffects should deter anyone and everyone from becoming drunk. If Sasuke had to choose, he would avoid drinking at all cost. Except, it was practically unavoidable in his line of work where company parties and bosses would urge their subordinates with shots after shots.

The other thought kept Sasuke’s mind throughout the ride was his recollection of Naruto’s pained face. The boy could have possibly been injured after the car accident was still healing. Did that mean he lied to the paramedics? Sasuke took a sharp inhale and ran his hand through his hair. Vividly, he remembered there no being blood on either him, Kakashi-san, and Naruto. So, it was more likely just a bruise.

_How stupid can the idiot get?_

Steps just a few steps after taking off his shoes in his apartment, Sasuke opened his laptop and clicked on a new window. His fingers mindlessly began typing words in search for treatments for car accident bruises. And as easy as that, he found a few simple treatments.

A notification popped at the side of his laptop screen, causing him to groan. He left the tab alone and opened other documents. Sasuke filled the rest of his time with work until there was hardly any left. With the crack of his fingers and shoulders, he closed his laptop and sets it aside. Sasuke rolled down from the headboard of his bed and just rested there until he fell asleep. It was the first time in while since he had slept this early. Despite the frantic search from earlier, figuring out that treatment wasn’t too bad. He did see Naruto again.

***

Kakashi had wanted to stay longer then. When he grabbed his satchel that day, Naruto-kun was already holding it in his hand while putting on bright, orange coat. The other flashed him a smile and handed it to him. They exchanged a simple “thank you” and “you’re welcome”. That was it. Now, it had been three days since they last saw each other. There was no other reason for him to go meet the kid. He already thanked and bought him dinner. While Tsunade-sama offered him each night then to go with him to Yakiniku Q for a drink, he refused simply to avoid becoming – though being _forced_ to would be a better fit – a drinking buddy of hers.

“Kakashi, you need to loosen up! Where did that spirit go last time?” she reminded him.

“Just had a good day that day, that’s all.”

“Well, go find another good thing for the day and end your night with a drink. Yeah?”

There was a part of him that refused but seeing as how there was no way to end this, he finished his cup of coffee. “Ueno-san and I did finish early.”

“Great! That’s a good thing!” she smiled and gently started to push him out of the office kitchen. With no way to return, he quickly placed his mug in the sink hoping that someone was kind enough to wash it for him.

They arrived in the restaurant at 9 o’clock in the evening. Kakashi let Tsunade-sama order the drinks, while he offered to buy the food.

“Nope, I’m paying this time,” she waved her hand.

Eventually, their small talks turned into silence. It would have been totally quiet if a certain someone finally clocked in.

Kakashi covered his face with his mask.

“Oh! Baa-chan, you’re back!” Naruto greeted. “Kakashi-san! Nice to see you again.”

Tsunade-sama softly chuckled behind her hand and immediately frowned. “Oi, kid. Who are you calling baa-chan? Do I look that old?”

“Ye–”

“That was rhetorical, you little punk,” she grabbed him by his wrist and pulled him down. She roughly scratched his head. It took less than five seconds for Naruto to surrender and begged for her release. The older woman finally did to which Kakashi raised an eyebrow. If Tsunade-sama had noticed his reaction, she had chosen to ignore.

“You’re early today! I could have given you a discount if you waited. But it was nice seeing _old_ face again!” he chuckled. Before Tsunade-sama could do anything, Naruto ran while his laughter echoed behind him. Just like that, the silence was broken. The two adults had a short conversation before silence filled the air once more, but there was a warm buzzing feeling left behind. Kakashi couldn’t quite describe it, but he could feel it. Apparently, so did Tsunade-sama. She was no longer chugging her sake and even stopped soon after. He relaxed his shoulders and let the feeling linger around him.

A rather short time later, the two left the restaurant. They did not see any more of Naruto after a party of people walked in, which occupied all his attention. Apparently, he was the only one that could handle the rowdy group. While it saddened Kakashi that he couldn’t see the boy one last time, he could still feel the warmth even out in the winter night.

“Subway, bus, or taxi?” Kakashi asked.

“Taxi,” she turned her phone on and booked one. “I’m not paying for this one.”

He raised his hands. They stood there for a brief silence, until Tsunade-sama finally spoke up.

“That old man…” she paused and sniffled. She roughly rubbed her pink nose. “Said he’d hold up until the end of the month. Wait until I finished the year, you know? Bullshit was what it was. Died a day after I saw him. I couldn’t even tell him a stupid story.”

“You can tell me,” Kakashi gently offered.

“You’re being awfully nice this past… what almost two weeks now? What was the good thing that got you going this long?”

He shook his head. “Don’t change the subject.”

“Ha!” she laughed. “Says the guy that still hasn’t said a word to anyone about…”

Kakashi took out his hand and cuffed them around his mouth. He blew hot air into them. He should really remember to bring gloves next time.

“Sorry. You’re right,” she looked down and kicked a small pile of snow. “It was about an alcoholic and workaholic woman who met the same stupid, perverted guy from her university years. She never said anything then and never said anything even after seeing him. Didn’t want to. Couldn’t. And that’s why he left again. I think. I don’t know. I… I just wanted to tell the old man that he shouldn’t leave without at least saying what was on his mind. Second chances are hard to get these days.”

“He’s proud of you,” Kakashi looked at her trying to display as much sympathy as he could through his eyes.

She chuckled. “Yeah. But I was also such a troublesome kid. I wanted him to tell me everything he bottled up. Lash out! Well, as much as he could…”

“You don’t need to hurt yourself any more than you already do,” he reminded her. “He knows that you love him.”

Kakashi wasn’t sure who they were talking about anymore, but it didn’t matter.

“Yeah…” she took a raspy breath in and out. A puff of soft, white air escaped her mouth. “The old man sure wasn’t the lovey-dovey grandfather type that’s for sure. But I guess I’m not lovey-dovey either. You know, I’ve actually questioned if I was _his_ granddaughter once. Did you know that? Haha!”

The taxi stopped in front of them.

“Don’t be late for work tomorrow,” she warned. “And don’t tell Shizune that I drank, or I’ll show everyone the picture.”

His eyes widened. Tsunade-sama grinned devilishly despite the puffiness state of her face. He nodded and walked away after he could no longer see the taxi.

***

After a couple of days of working in the restaurant, did a few double shifts at the construction site, and save his money that the self-reliance support center gave him, Naruto had finally decided that he had accumulated enough money from his workplaces to rent an apartment. While it wasn’t a lot, he had been dying to get a home. A place to call his own.

“Can’t believe you made it, bro!” one of his roommates patted his back.

“At least one of us did. Congrats,” another spoke up. His two other roommates weren’t there to celebrate his official move out, but they knew the date and had given him congratulations earlier.

On his way to his new home, the snow had completely covered the entire ground. There were hundreds of people in the street roaming around. Some of the stores and buildings were also already setting Christmas lights and other seasonal decorations. The only thing that was missing was the giant tree that many youths and couples alike come to and take pictures with. Naruto passed through many faces and entered the subway station. Since it was a late afternoon on a Saturday, the passenger cart was packed. Gratefully, everyone managed to give each other some room to breathe. He raised his arm and felt the bruise stretch painfully. It had hardly disappeared despite it already being days now since the accident at the construction. Usually, he would heal quickly, but this time his expectations were not reached.

So, as Naruto strolled to his apartment, he took his time. The walk wasn’t long, but taking it slow gave him time to also think about what happened the last two almost three weeks. Then, his mind wandered back further into his older memories. Memories he didn’t want to remember. The life of foster care. The life of having to practically grow up in it. Naruto shivered and all thoughts of the events that transpired were taken away. He thanked the cold for waking him up.

Naruto turned his head to the right and saw a flower shop called Yamanaka Flowers.

_Huh, I didn’t think Ino’s shop was this close._

He entered the building. A soft bell rang lagged behind him.

“Welcome!” a long-haired, blonde woman greeted him. “Are you looking one for a lover?”

“Ino,” he chuckled. “It’s for Sakura-chan.”

She giggled. “Sounds like you need a sturdy flower to keep up then.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Her head’s been mostly in books or working with patients for the past couple of years. Becoming a doctor sure is hard.”

She nodded. “It’s the forehead.”

Naruto snickered. “Haven’t heard that one in a while. Anyways, yeah… something that will freshen up her apartment, you know? She’s been hard on herself lately too.”

“Hmmm,” she hummed.

The two conversed a bit more and eventually found a flower just right for Sakura. But before he left, Ino gave him a potted plant as a housewarming gift after mentioning his new home.

“Seriously, Naruto! Congratulations! You should have told us sooner. We could have planned a party,” she hugged him.

Naruto chuckled away his embarrassment. “Thanks for the plant. I should be done unpacking everything by tonight. You can tell the gang to come over if they want.”

“Of course! Does eight sound good to you? I’ll have Choji bring in the food.”

“Perfect! See you then!”

When he existed, the snow began to fall again. He walked quickly as he could and finally reached the door to his apartment

He took a breath and held it there as long as he could. It smelled like stuffed air. Definitely not something anyone would want to first smell in their newly rented apartment. Except, opening the door was like opening a Christmas present. Yes. That’s it. This was his present. It was the first one he gave himself. A creeping thought of selfishness crawled in his head, but he ignored it and pushed the door wide open.

“Perfect,” Naruto exhaled and walked further in.

Inside laid a few boxes and a twin-size mattress. He laughed at the emptiness of it all, but he looked at the potted plant and flower he was hugging. He placed both of them on a floor and searched through several boxes to find a black marker. He opened the cap and wrote on his new, small potted plant.

_Mr. Ukki_

He chuckled at the name and recapped the marker.


	4. Chapter IV: One Step at a Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi with the exception of my original characters, which are obviously mine. Being an AU story, there will be changes in the plot. 
> 
> UPDATED 30 November 2020: Okay, I thought I was sure there would new contents for this chapter, but there isn't much. I still advice you to re-read if you read the previous version. However, the next update WILL have new content. Thank you to everyone that has been patient on my updates and new readers! I'm currently on break from my uni, so I'll update more often than Fridays. However, I'm still quite a busy lad. So, I can't promise specific days when I'll be updating. However, there will still be updates on Fridays at the least! :D
> 
> I also like the length of the new chapters more than before. So, I'll probably keep this format - though it may get a bit longer or shorter depending on what's happening in real life and in the story. And tags are also updated! Please check them out. Also, I accidentally switched Kakashi and Sasuke's name in the summary. (whoops) So, that's fixed. Kakashi's the child protégé not Sasuke. While Sasuke was a talented as a child, in my perspective, Kakashi was definitely more of the child protégé than Sasuke.
> 
> Anyways, I'll try not to make this long of an author's note, but I needed to say a few things. Next update should be soon! 
> 
> \- Arthur

Sasuke missed Naruto at the convenient store the next few days. Each day, he took a few minutes off his lunch to visit the boy and subtly give him advice on how to ease his injury. And each time he visited and asked the cashier, he would give him the same answer of not knowing until today.

“Are you guys in a fight or something?”

“Just answer the question.”

The cahier rolled his eyes. “Look, if you are, I’m not going to be the man in the middle. But I asked my boss. Said that he moved to a different branch.”

“Do you know where?”

“Don’t know. Don’t care. Ask him yourself. And trust me on this, just accept and say you’re wrong. Always worked with me and my girlfriend.”

“We’re not–”

The other patted his shoulders and left to help a customer. He grumbled in annoyance. Now that he was actually seeking for Naruto, he wasn’t there. 

“Sasuke-kun?” Karin interrupted his voiceless irritation. He shook the memory and gave her an unsurprising glare. “I get that writing a resignation letter can be hard, but you have to do it today or that pesky Kabuto’s going to give you more work and you can’t leave.”

He sighed and handed the signed paper to her. “Do what you have to do.”

She nodded her head and left. Sasuke looked at his watch and resumed to do his work – or accomplish as much as he could before he visited Yakiniku Q tonight again. He wasn’t going to lie, the food there was great. The service was good too. More importantly, the only other place that he could spot the blond was there. It was his initial decision to go there a few days ago, but there was a plethora of paperwork that occupied all his evenings that needed to be completed before permanently leaving his current law firm. Still, he almost went, but he composed himself.

Sasuke continued to rapidly type without paying much attention on what he was writing. This was getting out hand. He rolled his office chair back and walked towards the set of windows to his right. He hated uncertainties. Uncertainties and lack of control was what kills people these days. Moreover, it brought back all the nasty feelings that plagued his head when he was younger. At one point, he thought Itachi would have given up on him. He didn’t, but it proved his point. To ease himself, he decided to refocus his energy on work, despite the excuse of needing to treat the other’s wound that kept poking him at the back of his head.

Eventually, Sasuke lost to himself. He reached for his phone and checked his schedule to see that tonight was the only night that he had the most free time. Naruto had to be there.

***

Kakashi appeared to his colleagues as someone who thought a lot about his work and nothing else. While there was truth to that statement, it didn’t mean he was cold towards people. He just found most to be ignorant. He also has never denied that he had a soft spot for a few people. All right, maybe just about six people – most of which were dead. Currently, one of the alive ones was probably in her office trying balance working, coping and planning a funeral for the third time. Kakashi would have offered to help or had done so secretly, but he was too swarmed with the current case he was holding.

He never imagined himself to be in this position. Working. Working. Working. At one point in his life, he would have looked up to people like himself – like his father – with sparkling and youthful eyes. However, when reality hits, it hit like a son of a bitch. Surprisingly, he doesn’t hate his work. It was tiring, but all jobs were.

Kakashi took a sip of his now cold tea. Disgusted, he gulped it all down to avoid wasting it. As he resumed his work, the alarm on his phone rang.

_20:30_

The clock on his phone reminded him that it was almost nine in the evening. If stopped now and hopped on the train, he could go to Yakiniku Q just in time for Naruto’s shift. He had set this alarm ever since he learned of the boy’s shift. He wasn’t sure what inclined him to do so, but he did. Now, he can’t make himself delete it for some reason.

There was knocking on the door and Tsunade-sama entered. “I’m leaving for work early. If you need me, don’t.”

“Where are you going?” he asked knowing full well what the answer was.

“You know where,” she responded with a small smirk. “You should come with me. I know you could use the break.”

So, he did.

Tsunade and Kakashi entered the subway with other several suited adults. Thankfully, most were sober, making everyone in the cart less touchy and smelly. After they arrived at their stop, they walked the remaining distance.

“I got time and date set,” she initiated. “Do you want to know?”

Kakashi nodded his head. “Of course.”

“Next week Friday. It took a fight with the manager to set it up that day, but I got it.”

“Was blood spilled?”

“A little, but I patched it up with a little doctor’s note.”

“Did you make sure it was at least legible to the doctor?”

“Like a perfectly drawn Hieroglyphics,” she snickered.

Snow continued to fall. Kakashi brought his hands in his pockets. Each of their steps created soft slushing sounds. The once perfectly untouched pile of snow had turned into a muddy brown color. From the light of the streetlamps, the only spots he saw that remained pristine white were the untouched rooftops and the top of trees.

“That’s early,” he replied.

“Has to,” she sighed, creating a large and visible white puff of air. “I have several meetings booked this whole month. Plus, I can at least have the weekend to…”

“Hmm,” he mumbled. “I’ll be there. We’ll all be.”

“Thanks,” she smiled halfheartedly.

***

They shuffled in the restaurant and sat in Tsunade’s now unofficial spot. Ever since she came back in town, it had become her routine to visit Yakiniku Q every day to wrap up her night. It was surprise to find Naruto working at the restaurant, but she enjoyed his company, even if they only had brief conversations.

As soon as they sat down on the cushions, the said boy made himself known.

“Baa-chan! Great to see you again!” he hugged her. This was new, but it was welcomed. “You took Kakashi! Hello!”

The older man didn’t get a hug, which was probably for the best.

“How was the move? Was there anything missing?” she asked.

Naruto laughed. “Nope! There wasn’t much to steal from anyways.”

Even with the mask on, she noticed the subtle perk of interest from her colleague. She spoke up, “That may be true, but you would still lose something of value to you. Still, I’m glad you finally found an apartment. I’m proud of you for picking yourself back up.”

The kid rubbed the back of his neck and blushed. “Thanks, baa-chan.”

The two of them had their usual meal in silence after Naruto left. However, she could feel the side glances coming from Kakashi.

“Naruto used to live in one of the self-reliance support centers in the city. The kid finally got some money saved up and moved to an apartment. He’s a tough kid for living alone in such a big city,” she commented.

It seemed to have calmed down the man’s curiosity, making the meal less awkward. Eventually, the noise exponentially rose when a group of rowdy men came in halfway through their meal. They sat near their table and, with no sense of consideration, they kept their stream of conversation as loud as a drill. Tsunade noticed one of those men walking behind the group was Sasuke, who immediately sat on a different table by himself.

Naruto served the group first, trying to keep settle them down. Of course, they didn’t.

“Kid, don’t tell us what to d-do,” one of them said with a slight hiccup. She could practically smell booze coming from his mouth without needing to be next to him.

“I’m only asking, _sir_ ,” Naruto tried to hide the annoyance in his voice.

“Well, then, the answer is no,” another answered, and the group hollered in laughter. Tsunade counted in her head.

_One… two… three…_

“You punks better shut the hell up or we won’t serve you!”

“Haaa?” they questioned in unison. There were heavy grunts. Tsunade looked over pass Kakashi’s shoulder and saw all of them standing up. Shit.

***

Naruto had enough of dealing with groups like these. It’s no wonder the manager hired him. The restaurant someone how attracted idiots like them every single night.

“Punk? Did you just fucking call us that?”

Whoops. That was probably taken a little too far. One of them grabbed his shirt and lifted it up.

“Say that again to my face.”

Without hesitation, Naruto ducked underneath the man’s forearm and shifted himself on its opposite side. The man leaned forward, giving him complete access to this back. He used both of his hands to drop the man down on the floor. He placed the man’s right arm around his back while the other was gripped by Naruto’s left hand. To secure the situation, he placed a knee between the man’s shoulder blades. Naruto looked up at the rest of them.

Their eyes were wide open and blinking rapidly. As if their drunken state washed away, they sat back down again. Naruto stood up and helped the fallen guy up. Neither said anything, but the guy blushed in embarrassment as he was being helped up.

“So, what can I get for you?” he smiled.

***

Sasuke had watched action films before. The closest that he had ever been in one himself was when he was younger and had a rebellious phase. It only lasted for a year after getting in an accident that Itachi had to take care. It definitely made him regret his choice. From then on, he had never gone off tracks and seen fights outside the TV screen in his home. So, he knew this was different. Naruto didn’t do it out malice. He did it to protect himself. Sasuke would have stayed in awe if he had not notice that after the blond walked away, his shoulders were tilting to one of his side. The bruise was still there.

Naruto came back after finishing their order and stood next to his table.

“Oh! You’re back, Uchiha-san! Welcome,” Naruto smiled.

“I’ll get the one I ordered last time,” Sasuke muttered and looked to the side.

He playfully scoffed. “You know, Uchiha-san, you’re lucky I have excellent memories. If I didn’t, I would have ordered something completely wrong.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “You know, they say that those who have a big ego are making it up for something that they are _lacking_.”

He took a peek at the boy and smirked when the other’s face was flushed.

“Inappropriate language when ordering food, teme!” he stuttered. “Humph!”

“Stop calling me teme, boke.”

“I’ll stop…,” he paused and whispered. “Teme.”

Naruto heartily laughed like a winner and walked away, which didn’t stop Sasuke from glaring daggers behind his back. His eyes followed the other and only stopped when he realized there was some tension forming on his cheeks. 

“Sasuke!” he heard his name.

The raven looked towards the location of the voice and bowed from where he sat. “Tsunade- sama, what brings you here?”

“Just trying to eat dinner,” she smiled. “Oi, Kakashi. Say hi to your student!”

_Student?_

“Hello, Sasuke-kun,” the older man bowed. _Who eats with their mask on?_ He returned the bow.

Naruto returned with his plates of food and set everything up. The three of them did not end up talking further and his future coworkers soon left. There was still some food left on his plate, but he was too full. If he ate any more, he probably wouldn’t be able to sleep. He called over Naruto who then came back later with his card.

“Have a great night, teme!”

Sasuke’s immediately raised an eyebrow. “Hn. Says the guy who won’t go get treatment after a car accident, dobe.”

Naruto laughed. “Was I that obvious? Heh. And, uh, this wasn’t from the accident. It’s a from a different one. But I’m fine!”

He shook his head. “Well, it was still obvious when you are practically limping.”

He looked down. “Haha. I guess you’re right. But it’s healing! So, don’t worry about it. I’m fine!”

Without reason, Sasuke was irritated with what the blond was saying. He stood up and looked around to spot another staff member. He walked over to him.

“Naruto got hurt from those people over there,” he tilted his head at the group of men earlier. “Tell your manager I’m taking him home.”

“Wha–” Naruto was about to say, but Sasuke softly and secretly chopped the bruised side. “Ahh!”

“Naruto-kun! You must say to me when you get hurt next time! I’ll take care of those punks,” the person reassured with a power pose, which showed no muscles whatsoever. “I’m the manager here, so you have to trust in me too! And you can bring your friend to the back and change. I’ll have Matsuri cover for you. Thank you, sir. I’ll take care of him better!”

Sasuke nodded his head. Before Naruto could protest, Sasuke grabbed him by shoulder and pushed him forward. The other gave up and took him to the changing room. The raven turned around as the blond changed.

“H-hey… can you help,” he mumbled. Sasuke turned around and saw the shirt was halfway off, showing the darken, large bruise had covered his whole left rib. His eyes widened in shock and quickly helped. “Thanks.”

Without a response, he helped him again and placed a different t-shirt over his head. There was a soft grunt of pain, but Naruto had hidden any physical facial expression when the t-shirt was fully on.

They walked to his car in silence. Inside the vehicle, he gave up and offered to help Naruto with his bruise. The blond was a bit shocked at first and gave a small nod. This was not how Sasuke had planned things to turn out. He didn’t expect being alone with Naruto in his car. He only thought he would give the other some small tips. His original plan also _certainly_ never included the blond nearly half naked.

“Stop moving,” he ordered.

Naruto was sputtering small giggles and squirming while lifting half of his shirt up. Sasuke tried to gently place the cooling pad on the bruise. He hadn’t expected the other to be this ticklish and the bruise to be this large.

“Ahh…” Naruto gingerly wheezed out and gripped his shirt tighter.

That was it. Sasuke slapped the cooling pad.

“OUCH! The hell, Uchiha!” the boy yelled then immediately cooled down. “Sorry… and thanks.”

“Hn.”

They sat there awkwardly for a few minutes until Naruto spoke up, “I can manage the rest. I just need some ice and rest. Thanks again, Uchiha-san.”

“Where do you live?” Sasuke asked without thinking.

“You don’t–”

“Don’t make me repeat myself, usuratonkachi.”

“Did you–” Naruto pointed at him. “Ugh, fine.”

The boy finally gave him his address. Sasuke wasn’t sure what made him ask such a question, but he thanked his mouth for running itself without thinking. Because as he drove, the snow continued to fall heavily. If Naruto had walked through to the nearest subway or bus station, it would have made his condition worse – not that it wasn’t already. He would have been furious at himself if he had let Naruto walk through the weather.

The car ride was silent at first, but a little more than halfway through, Naruto began humming lightly. Without turning his head away from the road, Sasuke looked over and saw the other tilting his head on the window. His breath creating a small fog against it. He wasn’t sure if Naruto had noticed himself humming, but Sasuke almost couldn’t keep his eyes off him. Thankfully, the other had his eyes close.

“Oi, wake up,” he announced after removing his gaze from him.

Naruto grumbled and stretched. He winced slightly but quickly pulled his face together. “Almost there?”

“Yeah, just a few more minutes,” he replied. _And this will be all over_.

***

Just as the Uchiha said, they arrived within five minutes. Naruto thanked the raven haired man and walked up the stairs to his apartment.

Inside, there was still the mess from the “party” earlier that his friends threw for him. It wasn’t a big gathering and only a few of them showed up. Precisely, only Ino, Shika, Choji, and Sai had showed up. The Hyuuga twins, Gaara, Tenten, and Lee were all too busy. He understood. They all have a life and a job to go to the next day. Still, he couldn’t have been more grateful for his friends. Without their support, he wouldn’t know what would have happened to him.

He smiled to himself and decided to end his day with a warm shower after he finished cleaning the place. Afterwards, his eyelids closed, and he fell into a peaceful sleep. And for the first time in a while, he slept a sleepless dream.


	5. Chapter V: The Case Name 'A'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi with the exception of my original characters, which are obviously mine. Being an AU story, there will be changes in the plot. 
> 
> Whoops, sorry for the late update! I was busy during the whole week, so the chapter is a little short. However, things are picking up a little bit. Also, I did a little update on chapter 3 in particular. I forgot that Naruto didn't know Sasuke's name yet, so I just added that in. I also made very small changes in the previous chapters. Don't worry, they were all because I made a typo or the sentence didn't make sense. No need to go back. 
> 
> I'll try to make these mistakes in the future, but I won't say that I'll make some mistakes. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the new chapter and the plot (finally) moving forward! :D
> 
> \- Arthur

The next morning Naruto felt dreadful as the weather. Despite being early in the winter season, the snow had begun to fall hard that the ground was covered in a thick layer of snow. The sky had also been painted in complete grey. And because of the apparently sudden snowstorm that night, the streets had yet to be plowed so early in the morning. What made Naruto’s situation worse was the apartment he rented didn’t have heater, which made it easy for frost to spread itself on small window next to his bed.

_BANG!_

A door slammed followed by two people shouting. All such ruckus easily slipped through the apartment’s thins wall that its startles Naruto awake.

_Who fights this early in the morning?_

Naruto checked his alarm clock that sat by his futon.

“GAH!” he yelled and proceed to quickly change into his convenient store uniform. Shoving his two other uniforms in his bag, Naruto forgone taking a shower and went out the door in the flash that even lightning wouldn’t catch up to his speed. He tried to take as many shortcuts as he could. Unfortunately, it also meant that he had to step on the thick pile of snow.

Arriving just a few feet from his new work location, a shriek pierced his ears. His body immediately stopped. He looked around, until he finally saw someone running across the street. With only the streetlights being his only light source, he was unable to see the figure.

“Look who decided to show up,” his new coworker, Sato, grumbled while stepping through the automatic door.

Naruto looked back and huffed the reaming soreness from the run. “I…ha…ha… sorry. I…”

“Save it. Just be glad I covered for you,” he rolled his eyes. “You owe me, blondie.”

“T-thanks!” he smiled through his forced breathing. “Let me buy you lunch?”

“Humph. Fine,” the other walked away from the register and grabbed several items.

Naruto bought them all and took Sato’s place behind the register. In return, Sato took a break to eat. It was then the blond finally relaxed and noticed the situation he was in. His shoes and socks were completely soaked. And his bruise? It had felt actually better this morning, but it was now in pain again. Moreover, he forgot to grab his precious orange hat and gloves.

There was no escaping it. He knew the moment he finally had a breakthrough that life would find a way to remind him again of who he was and what he did to deserve everything.

***

Kakashi’s eyes lingered out the window. He could hardly see the people walking below the building from the thickness of the weather. His mind was also barely registering what had happened at the restaurant last night. He had kept his back turn despite the temptation when Naruto walked by. He only turned around when he heard one of the customers yelling. Then, in a flash, the drunken man was flagged to the ground with a victorious blond pinning him down. Apparently, Kakashi himself was ready to fight as he was about halfway through standing. He took notice of his position and immediately sat down. Tsunade-sama had laughed at the situation.

Now that it had been a new day, he was able to recall the whole thing with a new perspective of Naruto. A young man fighting against old men – probably older than Kakashi himself – would have made the restaurant look utterly terrible, even if Naruto had a reason to. A perfectly good reason at that. He shook his head and refocused his thoughts on his work. On his table were his laptop, a couple of stacked books, and several loose paper. He took notice of the time and grabbed the necessary documents before heading out of the office.

“Kakashi-senpai, make sure to bring your–”

He cut off Ueno by a tap of his satchel that was slung over his shoulders.

“Great! Good luck, senpai!” she cheered.

Arriving in one of the interrogation rooms at the police department was something Kakashi least liked about his work. And with a young boy that was once his age sitting in front him, it brought a terrible feeling in his stomach that he never thought, let alone wished, would return.

Kakashi sighed and grabbed a book in his satchel to read.

The kid, Kai, curiously eyed the book’s name. “What’s that?”

He gazed up, grinned with his visible one eye, and continued reading.

Kai rolled his eyes. “Okay! Okay! I’ll talk. It’s not like I did anything. But you have to tell me what that book is first.” No response. “Ugh, fine!”

“My friends and I were ditching school, ‘kay?” he started. “Everyone’s done it at least once over at my school. A-and, we just wanted to celebrate our win from a gaming tournament last night. So, me and the boys pretended to be sick for a day. I got to our meet up location first. Then, thee next thing I knew…” the kid paused. “T-there was someone yelling for help. I didn’t think of it and just ran. And…”

Kai’s face grimace. “I saw _that_ and called the police. Now, I’m sitting here like I’m the one that did it! I swear I didn’t do it, but the police kept me in here!”

Kakashi understood that look of horror that lingered in the boy’s face when he recalled what he witnessed at the ally. He closed the book and placed in back in his satchel. “They’re just trying to do their job.”

“Yeah? Well they suck. I already told them I’m innocent.”

He snorted. “Tough job, but we’re all learning on the job.”

“Sounds like an excuse.”

Kakashi shrugged. “Maybe. But I saw one of them bring you their doughnut.”

The kid looked at his half-eaten doughnut and flushed in embarrassment. “They should work on their words.”

“Shouldn’t we all?” Kakashi hummed in agreement. “Now, you got yourself a solid alibi base on your texts with your friends. They’re also working on getting CCTV footage. So, I see no reason that you’re going to stay here for much longer.”

“That’s it?”

“Yup.”

“They could have told me that themselves,” the boy crossed his arms.

Kakashi shrugged. “Like you said, we could all do better with our words.”

“What about the book?” the kid reminded him.

Before he could answer, one of the officers walked in and ushered Kakashi out of the room. Outside, he looked through the one-way mirror and noticed the same officer had sat down. He noticed the older man’s head was leaning down, looking dejected. Kai cracked a small smile and patted the man on the back.

Kakashi left the police department and took a deep breath of fresh air. His nose tingled against the cold air. He felt lighter as he returned to his mundane office. Now, the only thing that could make the day worse was if what his gut was saying was true.

***

Sasuke’s resignation finally reached all the employees’ radar. It was a shock to everyone, but they quickly accepted the situation once they heard which law firm he was moving to. He could hear their whispering comments about it every time he walked by, but he chose to ignore all of them. He wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction for anything.

“Karin,” he called for the red-head through the office phone.

“Yes, Sasuke-kun?” she bowed after entering.

“I need you to open up the Akatsuki case,” he ordered. He squinted his eyes at the computer screen in front of him.

Karin must have been in shock and replied after a solid minute. “Y-yes, sir.”

He opened a new window and compared the two screens in front of him. This can’t be right.

“Here you are,” she carried a large box. “There’s more of them, but Suigetsu sorted these out last time. So, these should be the important once. But here’s a flash drive version of most the other files. Here.”

She handed him a flash drive that had a black, bolded letter ‘A’ scribbled. Sasuke grabbed the small flash drive and the red hair woman left his office with slight hesitance in her footsteps. He plugged in the flash drive and continued to examine the contents.

“Fuck,” he swore. He roughly combed through his hair and pinched the bridge of his nose.

The Akatsuki case had been a sensationalized case that he was assisting his boss with during his probation period as a first year worker at the firm. It would have made news overseas, but wherever money flowed, hushed lips followed. So, it was no surprise that they had somehow managed to make an appeal for the group and had the goons in the group only go to prison for mere a few months. While Sasuke himself had little to do with what went behind the scenes, he felt sick about the ending results. If Sasuke was honest, he would have had them locked up for good. Except, it was his job to help defend them their asses. Had he played it lightly, he would have been fired, which would have result in him struggling to find a better law firm – during that time at least. More importantly, he knew it meant creating friction with them. No one wanted the Akatsuki lurking their every move.

He hardly got any credit after the case was over, but he wouldn’t have wanted it to be attached to his name anyway. Now that it was being brought up again during one of most crucial time of his life, he wondered if there was even a kami actually looking out for him. Probably none.

Unconsciously, the car accent flashed in his head along with Naruto stupid grin.

No. No. He needed to focus. He quickly picked up his phone and dialed Hatake-san – no, Hatake- _senpai_ ’s office number.

“Hello, this is Ueno Yui, Hatake Kakashi’s secretary speaking, how may I help you?”

“Hello Ueno-san, this is Uchiha Sasuke. I would like to speak with Hatake-san, please.”

“May you state your request?”

“It’s…” he doesn’t know how to explain the situation. “I’m a new future coworker that Hatake-san will be advising. I need to speak with him.”

“Oh, of course! I’ll save your number on the list for future calls, Uchiha-san. I’ll pass you on to Kakashi-senpai.”

Once Ueno-san did, Sasuke sighed. This was going to be one hell of a grand transition to his new firm. He grabbed his now cold coffee and chugged it.

***

The cloud remained darken with snow continuing to hail down on anyone and anything. If only it could turn actual hail and hit Kakashi’s head. Maybe it would make him forget everything so that he doesn’t have to be involved with Akatsuki case ever again. Sadly, he had been stuck inside his beige colored office with Sasuke on speaker for what seemed like an eternity when it was only a mere two hours.

“I apologize for keeping you on the phone for this long, Hatake-senpai,” Sasuke spoke through the phone, emitting tiredness through his words.

“It’s okay. I’m glad you called. And please, call me Kakashi.”

There was a pause. “All right, Kakashi-san.”

“Excellent,” he nodded, even though the raven couldn’t see him. “I’ll speak with Tsunade-sama as soon as I can about this and get back to you. Until then, focus on everything else, as I’m sure you’re busy with other things.”

Sasuke cleared his throat. “Ahem. Yes, I should be all set to go by next week.”

“Well, everything’s all set over here. Stay safe.”

“You too.”

Kakashi hung up the call. He propped elbows on the table and clasped his hands together. Gently, he leaned his forehead on the fingers of intertwined hands. The sound of the harsh wind finally registering his ears again. Each time the wind blew, he lets out a breath of air.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

It wasn’t surprising that the Akatsuki case was brought to him. In fact, he was almost certain that at some point, the case would be brought back to life if someone were to dig further. What he had not expected that his future pupil would be the one to bring it back. Out of all the lawyers out there, it had to be Sasuke – the one person who closed the case to begin with. What boggles Kakashi is why. He was unable to ask much question during their conversation. With needing to talk to Tsunade-sama, it could take some time before he could bring up his questions.

For now, he finished his paperwork and busily typed away paying little mind that he had forgotten a pair of gloves once more. With the way things were going, having cold fingers were the least of his concerns.


	6. Chapter VI: A Cold Late Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi with the exception of my original characters, which are obviously mine. Being an AU story, there will be changes in the plot. 
> 
> Early update! I tried to edit this as much as I could, but I know myself that there might be small mistakes. I'll make one grand edit once the story is over. In any case, this chapter is a little heavy. I wanted to portray the reality of what the work life is like, especially the work life as a lawyer/attorney. It's not all fun and not everyone gets paid well. Not everyone achieves it to the top despite working hard. 
> 
> With that said, I'm not super familiar with the Japanese law process as they use an civil system (I'm know more about common law). I'm doing research on their criminal law in particular (as Kakashi and Sasuke are criminal attorneys), but there could be some mistakes. Please spare me the rude comments about it - criticisms are welcome though! 
> 
> Warning: character death (not sure if the character would count as a major or minor character)

By the time Naruto ended his shift at the convenient store, the clouds have finished their rage, leaving only the gentle wind to carry the soft snow. Except, it was hardly peaceful. Across the street were several police cars, officers, news reporter, and a crowd of other people positioned near an alleyway. Their voices intermingling with each other, creating a bubble of noise in what was usually a quiet area.

“People should really mind their own business,” Sato shook his head and then jabbed a finger on Naruto’s shoulder. “But you, don’t be late tomorrow. I already got an ear full today from the manager. Don’t want you to have to pay half of my future hearing aid bills.” Sato rubbed his right ear.

“Half?” Naruto asked confused.

“You’re half the reason for my problem, so half the payment,” Sato shrugged his shoulders.

“Promise, then,” Naruto waved a pinky in the air with a wide grin plastered on his face.

The two parted their ways, but Naruto couldn’t help but remain curious as to what was happening across the street. There was a gut feeling in him that was drawing him there. And with each step towards the alleyway, the feeling deepened until the screaming earlier echoed in memory. Naruto took a startled step backwards and almost stumbled on the ground in the process. His attention now refocused. His ears picked up a sentence from one of the many news reporters in the area.

“…dead body of the young woman…”

Naruto felt a sickening drop of temperature within himself. Despite never seeing the body itself, he could picture an average Japanese woman. Her body lying down on the cold ground. Not that she would feel it as her body was already equally cold itself. There was probably blood too, Naruto thought. For his sanity, he tried to picture only the paleness of the body. Nothing more.

Someone must have noticed the lack of color in face because he was being ushered out of the crowd. The only thing that kept him in reality was a firm hand was wrapped around his shoulders that was guiding him.

“Sir, are you all right?” the man asked after he releasing his hand. Naruto’s blue eyes slowly looked up. The man in front of him was wearing a simple black suit with matching colored trousers that was held by a black belt. A white, collared button up shirt laid underneath the suit. Naruto couldn’t tell what the man’s sock color was, but the person sported a pristine pair of black, leather ankle boots.

“I…” Naruto paused. There was no sense of rush that he felt from the man. In fact, despite the lack of emotions the man was displaying, Naruto felt his own rapid heartbeat slow down. He took a deep breath and managed to swallow all his negative emotions.

He rolled his shoulders back. “Sir, are you the police?”

The man reached in the pocket of his trousers and took out a badge. “Detective Yamato. Was there something you saw?”

He shook his head while waving his arms around. “No, no! I-I didn’t see anything. Well… kind of. I was on my way to work at the convenient store over there,” Naruto pointed at his workplace. “Then, I heard someone scream… and I didn’t do anything.”

Naruto’s face scrunched. He was disgusted with himself.

Detective Yamato placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right.”

“But I could have helped her!”

“You shouldn’t risk yourself like that, young man. And there are different ways that you could help.”

“Like what?”

“Well, let’s start by going over the station and go step-by-step on what exactly you heard.”

“Okay, but I’ll have to make a call to my boss.”

“Sounds like plan,” the corner of the detective’s mouth tugged. It was hardly a smile, but it was good enough to ease Naruto back to himself.

Detective Yamato briefly talked to a police officer before they headed to the police station. There was a rush of feeling that registered throughout Naruto. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was in an actual detective’s car where heat surrounded him once more or if it was because his brain finally caught up with everything. Either way, it was a welcomed feeling after having his feet drenched in snow. The tips of his ears and nose as well as his exposed hands started to warm up while the car’s heating blasted. Hopefully, by the time they entered the station, his whole body would feel better.

***

The white screen slowly dimmed until the monitor screen completely turned off. Kakashi’s head remained on his propped arm. A soft glow from the lamp on his table remained illuminated. Its yellow tone casted on his sharp features, creating distinct shadows across his face. His shoulders slowly yet heavily rose and fell to the rhythm of the wind. He would have remained languid there, but there was still much to be done. Kakashi extended his arms out to stretch and carefully tiled his neck side to side. They protested at first but finally cracked, releasing some of the tension that was built up. Immediately after, he turned on his computer again and proceeded to finish the remaining work. Though, not long after he started, Kakashi heard knocking. He grabbed his face mask and puts it on.

“Kakashi-senpai?” Ueno voiced slipped through the small opening of the door. She opened it fully when she heard him greet her. “Thank goodness you’re awake.”

He gasped comically. “Ehh? I have never sleep during work.”

Ueno rolled her eyes and couldn’t help but let out a playful scoff. “Right. Anyways, I’m heading off. Do you need anything else, senpai?”

“Nope,” he shook his head.

“All right, but please go home as soon as you can senpai. It’s not good for your health to stay up so late every day.”

“Don’t want to leave the office with work still needed to be done… unlike someone.”

Ueno’s face flushed. “I’m studying for the exam!”

“Mah, I get it. Stay safe.”

“You too, senpai.”

With the click of the door shutting close, Kakashi returned to looking at his screen. His eyes easily wandered around the table. Papers, folders, and binders were scattered all over that even the floor was a victim. There were boxes littered, some spewing out their content while others remained shut. He sighed. Nothing was going to get done until he talked to Tsunade-sama and work together with Sasuke. He shook his head and focused on what was in front of him.

He busied himself for another two hours. Time felt rather short, but it was time well spent. He finally finished a misdemeanor case and had started to move on to another case. He would have likely continued until he saw the time and winced. It was nearing midnight. With neither subways nor busses available, Kakashi had to resort to using a taxi.

He left the firm building and proceeded to hail a taxi. By the time the vehicle reached his apartment, Kakashi was ready to magically transport on his bed. The only thing that kept him from doing so was the vile feeling he had carried with him. The call from Sasuke that afternoon still lingered in his mind. Maybe he should have prepared his ritual night routine, but Kakashi – ignoring the plea of his tired body and mind – pushed through and started to gather all the information that he knew about the Akatsuki case.

***

In a completely different apartment, the same sleepless night befell on Sasuke. He tossed and turned on his bed. He covered his eyes with his forearm feeling more exhausted than ever. His resignation had been accepted, but he was told that he had to finish the rest of his cases before he could transfer. He had known this was going to happen, but it was still infuriating. So, he suffered the rest of his day trying to work out a middle ground with his boss. For the image of the firm, he was forced to represent a V.I.P. client. Only then was he to transfer to Konoha Law Firm along with his other cases without any further question.

While it seemed reasonable, he hardly could afford time to take on another client – much less for a V.I.P. as it usually meant shady business. And the darker the business, the more time it took to make sure that he doesn’t end up being dragged along like a puppet. Without being given the client’s name or contact, or really much of anything until tomorrow, he was forced to wait. Sasuke developed patience, but it was starting to wear thin. Maybe his father was right – not that he would admit it. Maybe, he wasn’t meant to be a criminal defense attorney. It hardly paid well. It had long hours of sitting down on his chair and staring at his computer. More importantly, it wasn’t his personality to defend anyone. He was probably better if was a prosecuting attorney.

He reached over to the nightstand next to him. In his hand was a framed photo of him and Itachi during his university graduation. It wasn’t inherently a special day. They both knew that he was going to graduate at the top of his class. Sasuke carefully took the back of the frame out. Hidden behind was another picture yet it weighed more heavily in his hand than the frame itself. It was broken picture of their family. There were old water marks all over with wrinkles to accompany it from being crumpled. Much of the bottom right corner was burnt. Still, he was glad that their faces remained vivid. It was the last remaining photo that he had of his whole family. Itachi had given to him on the very same day he graduated.

_“Nii-san,” Sasuke’s voice broke as the photo trembled along with his hands. “I-I can’t have this.”_

_“Yes you can, and you will,” Itachi hugged his brother. They weren’t the hugging sibling type, but there they were. Two lone brothers of the Uchiha family standing among a large crowd full of other graduates and their families, each sharing their moments together. His older brother lets go and stared at him. “I’m sorry that I kept this from you for so long.”_

_There was a silence between the two of them when they separated. Sasuke kept the photo near him, but he didn’t look at it again, fearing that his eyes would burn it more. Instead, he kept his gaze locked at his brother. He knew how much this photo had meant to Itachi. His older brother was greatly loved by_ both _of their parents. So, if he were in Itachi’s place, he would have probably been selfish to have kept the photo for himself. Except, his brother didn’t and that’s the great difference between them. He hasn’t learned to let go. Maybe, that’s why he has yet to forgive himself._

_Sasuke returned the hug. And once more the brothers fell in each other’s embrace._

_“It’s okay, nii-san,” Sasuke’s voice being muffled at the shoulders of his forgiving, sacrificing, and, most of all, loving brother._

Sasuke only looked at photo whenever he had to make a big decision or transition into the next part of his life. And as of tomorrow, it would be just one of those moments. However, he still could not look at the picture for a long time. He tenderly placed the photo back in its space and puts the frame back on top of the nightstand. His body remained awake, but his mind was less alert. Hopefully, he would be able to sleep soon.

***

Fired.

The word seemed to vibrate in the small room. Naruto managed to leave the station at a reasonable time and arrive at his work at the construction site half only half an hour late. He apologized profusely despite already explaining why he was going to be late. Yet, they had to fire him and several other workers without the best reasoning. Apparently, their dismissal was announced earlier while he was away. In respect for the blond, the manager wanted to wait and tell him in person. Nonetheless, the word now rang loud and clear that Naruto had trouble hearing anything else that came after.

When he left the room, Eiji-san was there waiting for him. The older man’s eyes showed great empathy for him.

“I tried to get them to let you stay,” Enji-san softly spoke.

Naruto walked up to him and hugged the older man. The other reciprocated and the two engulfed in each other’s sadness. After Naruto received the part-time job, Enji-san was the first adult that he befriended outside of the ones he grew up knowing and after his godfather’s death. As for the older man, he told Naruto that the blond was the first youth that approached him without prejudice due to his age.

The two pried themselves from each other. With Naruto unable to speak, Enji-san uttered first.

“Naruto-kun…” his voice breaking, but he too couldn’t formulate words after. However, there was no need. His name alone emitted all the warmth he received from Enji-san.

Naruto kept his head tilted slightly up to meet the old man’s eyes. There, he finally noticed the months that has passed by since they met. There were wrinkles on the corner of the other’s eyes with heavy bags hanging below them. Yet all such features only highlighted the ebony hue of his eyes. There too were the old man’s dimples that had now dragged downwards, creating two long yet deep streak on his cheeks. And the hair that was once only growing sparse grey hair were now littered all over. His hair too now had grown longer than its usual length. If it had grown over his shoulder, maybe just maybe, Naruto could see the resemblance of his godfather.

To stop his heart from bleeding, Naruto bid his friend goodbye once more and had told Enji-san that he would try to visit once in a while. They both likely knew that wasn’t going to likely happen since the company seemed to be firing people left and right. Enji-san would probably be fired soon since he’s been with the company the longest and had passed the retirement age. And when that happens, it would be difficult to stay in contact with the old man. Naruto himself was without a phone and the other was more than likely to going to be placed – or rather forced – by his son to a nursing home. Still, Naruto had hope that one day they would meet again, hopefully in a better environment than a construction site.

With the rest of his day free, he finally had the chance to visit Sarutobi-san. His jii-chan – though no official and most certainly not by blood. It had been more than a week since his last visit. But he knew his jii-chan would understand. Still, he couldn’t help but feel terrible. The old man was sick, yet he rarely visited due his jobs.

Naruto hopped on a bus and headed towards the hospital. Arriving there, he was greeted by a surprised but welcomed smile from the receptionist.

“Naruto-kun!” she stood up. “It’s been a while…”

“Yeah… I planned on visiting him a while ago, but I got a new job and apartment. So, I’ve been a little bit more busy than usual. Hehehe,” he scratched the back of his head. “But hey! I’m here. I’ll just –”

He paused. Heavy silence filled their space.

“Naruto-kun…”

He raised a hand slightly and shook his head. “Was he… in pain?”

“No! No…” she said the latter more softly. “He died in his sleep peacefully… Do you want to talk to Shizune-san?”

“That’s okay, she probably busy,” he painfully chuckled. “Do you know when the funeral is?”

“I haven’t been informed, no,” she answered and began to grab the cellphone in front of her. “But Shizune-san might know.”

“It’s fine!”

“Naruto-kun, seriously. It’s all right,” her fingers already rapidly typing. Not long after the message was sent, there were footsteps. Shizune-san appeared and hugged Naruto. The two of them conversed briefly. He eventually found out the date of the funeral and left a little later.

He wandered around the streets to fill his time until the night sky faded in. When it did, he had returned to his apartment. He didn’t bother turning on the lights. The bright moonlight slipped between the cracked curtains and lit up a small portion of the room. He reached for it and opened the curtains all the way. Despite the frost covering most of the window, it was thin enough so that he could see the moon. He sunk on the heels of his foot and continued gazing out. His blue eyes started to mimic the clouded darkness. Naruto let himself be that way for a bit. Just a little bit. Then, he stood up to water Mr. Ukki.


	7. Chapter VII: The Scars in Your Confidence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi with the exception of my original characters, which are obviously mine. Being an AU story, there will be changes in the plot. 
> 
> Sakura's perspective only, but it was fun to write! Personally, I think that Sakura could have been such an amazing character AND have been a great friend to Naruto. So, my Sakura is just that. Of course, there is complexity in her character as well. So with that came out this chapter. And yes... there will be times where I refer to the past. What is a Naruto series without some flashbacks? (hahaha)
> 
> Also, this is a shorter chapter, but if I included the next scene it would be too long! Edit for this chapter and future chapters will be after the story is completed. Still, I will try to proofread it as much as I can.
> 
> \- Arthur
> 
> Warnings: blood (angst?)

Sakura was surprised to receive a pot of flower from Naruto earlier that week.

_“Sakura-chan, here,” Naruto handed it to her._

_“N-Naruto!”_

_The plant was decorated with florals. All of them shaped like a trumpet with a delicate pink hue as its shade, matching her hair color._

_“Ino told me it’s called a Mandevilla. I’m sure she could tell you more about what it means, but I thought it was pretty and it smells great too!” he chuckled. “I just thought it might help you with stress.”_

_It definitely wasn’t the first time that she received a flower from the blond, but it was certainly the first time she received one in a pot. During their childhood, Naruto had the habit of picking up random wildflowers and giving it to her. After finding out where they came from the park that they played in, she warned him that it was illegal to pick out flowers from there. Since then, she never received another one, until now that is._

_She smiled and sniffed the flower. It smelled sweet, almost cotton candy like. “Thank you, Naruto. But you didn’t need to do that.”_

_“I wanted to. And if it can help you sleep, then the better! Look at your bags!” he pointed accusingly. “You can’t exactly help others if you’re asleep, dattebayo!”_

_Her face twitched and Naruto immediately apologized only it was too late with her fist already hitting his head._

That had been a few days ago. She wasn’t worried about Naruto despite not being in contact with him for days on after. It wasn’t anything new between them. Naruto didn’t have a phone and they were both busy with life. Specifically, she was busy trying to get a doctorate degree and the other was pressured in keeping a steady job. So, when she texted Shikamaru asking him to pass on the message to the blond that they should meet at their favorite café, the subtle message that the pineapple head wrote created an uneasiness in her.

In fact, since it came from Shikamaru, it had a greater effect as he was the only one in their friend group that always knew where and what the blond was doing. This should irk Sakura since she had known Naruto slightly longer, but the discomfort she had overthrew that emotion. And the way Naruto was fidgeting with his fingers – something she noticed he did every time he was about to lie to her – after she asked him how his work was had confirmed her feelings.

“Pretty good! Got my paycheck from the restaurant today,” he answered while his fingers were still dancing around.

“What about the convenient store?” she humored him.

“Doing fine. Oh! But I got to ride in a detective’s car!” he tried to change the subject.

Sakura’s ears perked up. “When? How?”

Some sort of realization must have set it because Naruto immediately tried to divert into a different conversation. Sakura wanted to keep challenging him to share something, but she knew that any topic that was remotely negative in his life would never slip pass through his lips. She hated that, but she hated it even more that she understood why Naruto was like that.

_Several years ago…_

_At six years old, life was still viewed in vibrancy. Which was why when the Haruno family went to the park for Sakura’s birthday, the whole area looked like a blushed face under the bright, warm sky. It was an annual event that they would go to the park near their house to celebrate her birthday. The day would have been all other years. However, she had finally made a friend in school with a girl named Yamanaka Ino. So, she invited her and the two were given permission to wander around the park._

_“Oi! Ino, wait!” Sakura wheezed. The girl ran off after screeching someone’s name that Sakura had never heard of. She looked up after catching her breath and found her new friend chatting with a raven haired boy. She could only see his back, but she noticed how Ino was even more of a chatter box than usual._

_Sakura giggled and was about to head towards the two until she was shoved down by someone._

_“I’m so sorry!” a hand reached down to her. She accepted it. And right there. Right there she realized that the sakura trees were nowhere near in beauty than the person in front of her. The child, who she believed to be much younger than her, was a boy. He was a whole head shorter than her. And his head was covered in lush golden strands of hair that reached just below his ears. They were scattered everywhere as if he had just woken up. There was also his smile. She had never seen someone smile so big._

_“Are you an i-idiot?” she frowned and crossed her arms._

_“Hehe, sorry!”_

_He kept grinning even when Ino had returned, who was looking a little upset. The two of them eventually learned the boy’s name was Naruto. Though, not much after finding out that information, the two some how managed to make it to the playground where they played for what seemed like hours. They stayed there until Sakura and Ino’s parents called out for them._

_Sakura returned to the playground the next day. She would keep meeting Naruto there nearly every day. Sometimes she was unable to, especially during that winter when the night appeared quicker and colder. During those times, she wondered if Naruto had been waiting for her. If he was, she too wondered how long he would wait. Of course, she was just a child then. She didn’t know about or even how to set a proper time to play. She relied on her parents to do that for her. So, she never really told the blond when they could meet._

_It was a mistake she would haunt her to this day._

_When Christmas was nearing that same year, Sakura wanted to meet with the blond before she headed to her grandparent’s house. She had told her parents that and they agreed to go the park._

_“Mama! I can do this!” she huffed. Her mother chuckled and untangled their hands. Sakura rushed to the playground and shuffled next to the swing where Naruto waited. Only, the blond was not there. She could wait patiently just like him, she thought. Though, after five minutes she started to get worried. She looked at her mother across the playground. She noticed Sakura’s gaze and waved. Sakura copied the gesture. She knew that her mother was patient and would wait for her until she came back. However, this was a test on_ her _patience._

_After a total of 10 minutes passed, she groaned. Irritation slowly worked its way into her system. It was a familiar feeling ever since she fought with Ino over Sasuke. It was a stupid fight, but it sparked something in her. So, when another minute ticked, she stomped away. However, when Sakura looked down at the mess of snow she made, she finally spotted drops of red. Curious, she followed it. With each step, she irritation was replaced with anxiousness. There was something in her that told her to turn back around._

_Too late._

_Sakura’s gasp was cut short by the palm of her hands. Lying on the ground was Naruto. She couldn’t move at the sight of him. There, his face… his beautiful cheeks were smeared in red. The coat that wrapped around his body didn’t seem to do anything because his face was pale as the snow that hugged him. The scream was stuck to her throat no matter how much she wanted to let it out. Thankfully, her mother had followed her and caught her before she fainted._

_When she woke up, she was already in the car with her father driving and her mother sitting across from him. She wasn’t sure how, but she fell asleep. Christmas went by and so did the new year without any hitch at her grandparent’s house. Her mother and father never spoke to her about the incident, though neither did she. It was only brought up when they returned home._

_“Sakura-chan,” her mother’s voice was as soft as the way she was brushing Sakura’s hair. They were in sitting in the living room watching a cartoon show. Sakura sat on the floor while her mother sat on the couch._

_“I want you to stay away from the boy,” her mother concluded. There wasn’t anything wrong with what she said, yet her heart told her to go against what her mother was saying. To tell her that she was wrong. Naruto was not a bad child. At the same time, her mind was giving her reasons to avoid him._

_Throughout the short friendship time between Sakura and Naruto, she learned that the boy was orphaned. He never said for how long, but to a child growing up without a parent for even a week feels like a year. She also found out that boy never went to school. Again, she did not pry to find out more despite wanting to. Her parents taught her to be respectful of other’s privacy, especially when it came to asking about someone’s personal life. All of such information did not deter her at first. Now, it made his world and Sakura’s vastly different that she became afraid. Afraid of what may now lie ahead in their friendship due to this great of a difference. And since her mother too was afraid, Sakura’s own feelings felt justified._

_“Yes, mama,” she mumbled in agreement as her heart aches._

_When school returned in the spring, Sakura had turned seven. She still fought with Ino and sought for Sasuke despite all three of them being in different classrooms. However, she was surprised to see Naruto of all people to be in her homeroom. The two never conversed. It also seemed like the whole class and those who saw him during breaks avoided him like a plague. She did feel guilty, but the guilt only appeared after Sasuke had left the school months later where there was nothing to distract her feelings. So, she did what she learned from Ino: be confident and go up to Naruto yourself._

Since then, Sakura and Naruto’s friendship had never faltered. Though, even with all the confidence she could muster, she still doesn’t know what had happened that day. Maybe she never will, but she would never turn her back on him ever again. 

“Narutooo” she dragged on his name.

“Okay, okay!” he raised his hands in defeat. “I got fired from the construction.”

“What the hell?” she stood up. Her knees knocked the edge of the table, which almost spilled their coffee over. She quickly apologized to the other customers and sat down. “How could they do that to you? Don’t they know you’re working your ass off every day?”

“So is everybody else. I’m no different,” he shared a pitiful smile. “The boss gave some lame excuse that I couldn’t understand. But it’s all good. The other jobs pay well.”

“They barely keep you afloat as it is. You have an apartment now!” she lets out a groan.

“Sakura-chan, don’t worry!” he reassured her. _I’m the one that should be saying that_. “I can use this as a break, you know? Especially since jii-chan…”

“Jii-chan?” she pushed him on. Naruto had mentioned the old man a few times before, it had been months since he last brought up the name. With the depressed look that the other made, she immediately knew what had happened. _This_ was the reason for her friend’s demeanor. Sakura stood up and hugged the other. She could feel the gaze of other people, but she didn’t care. This was her friend. A friend that was madly hurting and who _almost_ did not share his feelings.

The two of them left the café when she felt the vibration of her cellphone set off. It was an alarm for her training.

“Do you know when and where the funeral is?” she asked on their way out.

“This Friday at the Konohana Cemetery. Open casket is at eleven.”

“I’ll meet you in your apartment.”

“You don’t–”

“No. I’ll try to bring everyone along. Naruto, please, let _me_ do this for you.”

He finally nodded his head and lets out a genuine smile. Sakura realized that the anxious feeling that she had disappeared whenever Naruto did that. She returned the smile and the two of them bid their goodbyes. The wind hit Sakura’s face. She shifted the scarf higher so that it covered the tip of her nose. Her hands shoved deep in her coat’s pockets. She made a mental note of bringing some hand warmers next time.


End file.
